


Down To Earth

by Nugiha



Category: 7th Heaven, Big Time Rush, Girl Meets World
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hurt/Comfort, Comment Fic, Community: comment_fic, F/M, Friendship, To Read, To Rec
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-18
Updated: 2015-05-28
Packaged: 2018-03-31 19:58:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 4,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3990832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nugiha/pseuds/Nugiha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Feeny's reunite with old friends after moving back to New York City.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Down To Earth  
> A/N: AU fic, strictly written for fun. The ages at the beginning of the story are Jari 11, Matt 23, Mary 21, Lucy 20, Simon 16, Ruthie 13, and Sam and David 8.  
> Fandom(s): Girl Meets World, 7th Heaven, Big Time Rush  
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
> Summary: The Feeny's reunite with old friends after moving back to New York City.  
> Rating/Warnings: PG-13/R. OC, OOC, Strong Language, Violence, Abuse, Drug/Alcohol Abuse, Adult situations/subjects, and etc.  
> Pairing(s): OMC/Maya Hart and many others.  
> Cast  
> Jari Feeny...Alexander Ludwig  
> Jari's father, Tahj Feeny...Paul Jonas

The Feeny Home New York City, NY

"I'm coming." a boy named Jari Feeny(13) said as he grabbed his backpack off of the floor of his room, it was the first day of school after moving back to New York City, NY and his father and siblings were urging him to hurry so that they would be able to leave, he then headed downstairs where everyone was waiting for him.

Jari's only older brother, teenage Noah Feeny, one of the fraternal twins scoffed. "Dude, you're going to make us all late!"

"Don't be so hard on him, we're not even supposed to be in class for almost a half hour." Jari's younger brother, Connor Feeny, one of the quintuplets said in his defense. The only thing Connor got in response was Noah scoffing at him and telling him to shut up, the two then started a mini-argument which was broken up by one of their sisters.

"Enough! You all need to leave now, good luck." said Jari father, Tahj Feeny, not really meaning it. "And _behave_."

Jari's family wasn't your average family, in fact including himself, there were nineteen children in all. The oldest at sixteen-years-old were a set of fraternal twins Elizabeth and Noah(both of them had black hair and hazel eyes).

After the fraternal twins and Jari were the twelve-year-old quintuplets, Liam, Jake, Connor, Willow, and Gia(all of them had blond hair and green eyes).

A set of identical twins, Gabriella and Christine(both of them had blond hair and brown eyes) were next, they were eleven-years-old.

Juliette(she had black hair and green eyes) was ten-years-old and one of the single births in the family.

The only set of triplets were nine-year-old identical boys Jayden, Anthony, and Mike(all of them had blond hair and blue eyes).

Shane(he had brown hair and hazel eyes) was next at eight-years-old and was the second of two male single births.

Next was seven-year-old Alyssa(she had black hair and blue eyes), she was the second to last of the female single births.

The second youngest was six-year-old Isabella(she had blond hair and hazel eyes), she was also the last of the single births.

And finally the youngest were the second pair of fraternal twins, Aidan and Abby(both of them had brown hair and green eyes).

"Can we please go now?" asked Elizabeth, Tahj shot her a warning look at the tone in her voice and then she, Noah, Connor, Jari, and the rest of their siblings then grabbed their backpacks and headed out the front door.

Next Chapter: The Feeny's reunite with the Camden's.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Down To Earth  
> A/N: AU fic, strictly written for fun. The ages at the beginning of the story are Jari 11, Matt 23, Mary 21, Lucy 20, Simon 16, Ruthie 13, and Sam and David 8.  
> Fandom(s): Girl Meets World, 7th Heaven, Big Time Rush  
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
> Summary: The Feeny's reunite with old friends after moving back to New York City.  
> Rating/Warnings: PG-13/R. OC, OOC, Strong Language, Violence, Abuse, Drug/Alcohol Abuse, Adult situations/subjects, and etc.  
> Pairing(s): OMC/Maya Hart and many others.

John Quincy Adams Community School

"I think that's the Camden's." commented Gia as she walked into the local community school with Connor, Jake, Liam, Willow, and Jari, the school that the nineteen Feeny siblings attended let in grades K-12, Jari followed his sister's gaze and saw the four of the seven Camden siblings which included teenage Simon Camden, fellow preteen Ruthie Camden, and fraternal twins Sam and David Camden who were around Shane's age. Before the Feeny family moved to Glen Oak last summer, the Camden's had been good friends of theirs.

"Maybe we should go over there." suggested Connor, Connor's suggestion sparked a debate between Jari and the quints about whether or not they should walk over to the Camden siblings and say hello, they had talked with the Camden's from time to time over the phone and through video chatting but _hadn't_ been back to see them since they had moved last summer. In fact, the Camden family or any of their friends from NYC had no idea that they were moving back, Elizabeth had thought it would be the best idea to surprise them. Ruthie caught sight of the sixsome and after getting Simon's attention, they then came over to them with Sam and David following right beside them.

Ruthie had a taken back look on her face. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We moved back Ruthie." replied Jari.

"Without telling anyone?" asked Ruthie.

Jari then explained that they all thought it would be a fun surprise if they had just showed up and hoped that _none of them_ were upset, but his worries were quelled when Simon assured him that none of them were angry, only _surprised_. Finally Ruthie could take it no longer and grabbed Willow in a hug, prompting Simon along with Sam and David to grab a Feeny and hug them as the group caught up with each other on their lives. Eventually the bell rang and Ruthie invited the Feeny siblings over to the Camden's home afterschool, Jari knew that Mr. and Mrs. Camden along with Simon and Ruthie's elder siblings would want to see them and agreed, they then split up and headed to their respective classes.

***

Outside John Quincy Adams Community School Later

Moments after the final bell rang, Jari was exiting school where he found the fellow preteen, Maya Hart with a cigarette in her hand, the only thing he could do was shrug one shoulder, some things hadn't changed one bit. "I see someone hasn't given up her bad habit." he commented as Maya looked over at him and rolled her eyes.

"Don't start with me Mr. I didn't tell anyone I was coming back." said Maya, she took another drag from the cigarette, Jari chuckled at Maya's uncaring attitude knowing if Maya's best friend Riley Matthews would flip out if she knew what Maya had been up to. But luckily Jari and Riley were two different people.

"That's what I've been getting all day."

"Your poor thing." Jari was then given a sympathetic look from Maya as she offered him an extra cigarette, he originally thought she was joking with him until the blond rebel let him take the cigarette from her once he grabbed it, the last time he tried a cig was a _secret_ experiment that conducted with Elizabeth and Noah when they were younger. He knew that he and Maya's close friends, Riley Matthews, Lucas Friar, and Farkle Minkus _wouldn't_ partake in smoking and decided to try it, Maya lit the cigarette for him, and the two of them engaged in conversation as they smoked and then headed away from the school.   

Next Chapter: Jari and the others reunite with the Camden's.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Down To Earth  
> A/N: AU fic, strictly written for fun. The ages at the beginning of the story are Jari 11, Matt 23, Mary 21, Lucy 20, Simon 16, Ruthie 13, and Sam and David 8. For story purposes, Matt, Mary, and Lucy haven't met Sarah, Carlos, and Kevin yet.  
> Fandom(s): Girl Meets World, 7th Heaven, Big Time Rush  
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
> Summary: The Feeny's reunite with old friends after moving back to New York City.  
> Rating/Warnings: PG-13/R. OC, OOC, Strong Language, Violence, Abuse, Drug/Alcohol Abuse, Adult situations/subjects, and etc.  
> Pairing(s): OMC/Maya Hart and many others.

The Camden Home

"He gives me bad vibes." said Alyssa after pulling her older brother, Jari to the side, once school was over, most of the Feeny siblings save Isabella, Aidan, and Abby headed to the Camden's house where they reunited with the Camden parents, Eric and Annie Camden and their older children, adults Matt, Mary, and Lucy, Ruthie's on/off boyfriend Peter Petrowski, Peter's mother Paris Petrowski, and Paris's ' _boyfriend_ ' Dick. The 'he' Alyssa was talking about was Dick, Peter _didn't_ like him, though no one could truly understand why.

Jari sighed. "We don't even know him Alyssa." he didn't think it was fair to judge Dick without knowing him, the two then walked back into the livingroom where Ruthie, Peter, Sam, David, and Shane were watching TV.

"Where were you two?" Ruthie asked.

"In the kitchen." Jari told her.

Ruthie narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Doing what?"

Jari briefly glanced at Alyssa. "What do you know about Dick?"

"Nothing, other than the fact Peter hates him." replied Ruthie. "Why?"

The small preteen then replied that it was just a general question and nothing that Ruthie needed to worry herself about, before Ruthie got the chance to question Jari further, Alyssa drew her into a conversation that she was having with Sam and David about why Barney _wasn't c_ reepy. A few minutes later, Annie and Eric walked in and asked Jari if he and his siblings were staying for dinner, the warning look he was given from Alyssa prompted him to say no, Jari explained that their father was expecting them but maybe they would be able to stay _another_ time. Simon, Elizabeth, and Noah soon walked in and the latter two gathered their younger siblings, said goodbye to the Camden's, and then headed out the front door.

Next Chapter: Jari and his siblings return home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Down To Earth  
> A/N: AU fic, strictly written for fun. The ages at the beginning of the story are Jari 11, Matt 23, Mary 21, Lucy 20, Simon 16, Ruthie 13, and Sam and David 8. For story purposes, Matt, Mary, and Lucy haven't met Sarah, Carlos, and Kevin yet.  
> Fandom(s): Girl Meets World, 7th Heaven, Big Time Rush  
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
> Summary: The Feeny's reunite with old friends after moving back to New York City.  
> Rating/Warnings: PG-13/R. OC, OOC, Strong Language, Violence, Abuse, Drug/Alcohol Abuse, Adult situations/subjects, and etc.  
> Pairing(s): OMC/Maya Hart and many others.

The Feeny Home

"You pathetic excuse for a son!" Tahj hollered as he delivered a final kick to Jari's ribs, Jari was laid out on the floor in front of him, bleeding from the mouth and covered in multiple bruises and scratches from the severe beating that his father had just given him. Tahj used to be a loving father, but ever since his wife and Jari's mother had moved on, he had become less and less caring towards his kids and it came to the point where he was abusing them for no _real_ reason.

Jari could barely blink out of his black eye once his father had left the room, it was a few minutes before Noah, Jayden, Anthony, and Mike walked in and helped their brother to his feet, then the four led him upstairs and into the bathroom so that he would be able to get cleaned up. After being assured by Noah that he could _handle_ it from there, the triplets left their Jari in the hands of their older brother.

"Damnit Jari, you know to stay away from him when he's in his moods like this." Noah held Jari's arm as he cleaned it with a rubbing alcohol dabbed towel, he noticed his brother cringe during the cleaning. "I know it stings dude, but you don't want it to get infected."

Jari nearly cried, but remembered that it was a sign of weakness and decided to save the crying for _later_. "It's not fair Noah, I didn't even do anything." Noah then put a hand on his brother's shoulders and told him that it wasn't his fault, their father just had a _real_ problem and needed some help.

"I know you didn't." Noah was truly on his younger brother's side, having been on the receiving end of _countless_ beatings from Tahj, he knew that it didn't matter whether or not anything was done in order to warrant it.

"I'm going to ask Ruthie if I could stay over for a couple of days." Jari knew that if he couldn't stay at Ruthie's, he could probably ask Lucas, Maya, Farkle, or even some of their other friends.  

Noah shot his younger brother a warning look. "Just don't tell her why you're really asking."

Next Chapter: Jari spends a week with the Camden's.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Down To Earth  
> A/N: AU fic, strictly written for fun. The ages at the beginning of the story are Jari 11, Matt 23, Mary 21, Lucy 20, Simon 16, Ruthie 13, and Sam and David 8. For story purposes, Matt, Mary, and Lucy haven't met Sarah, Carlos, and Kevin yet.  
> Fandom(s): Girl Meets World, 7th Heaven, Big Time Rush  
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
> Summary: The Feeny's reunite with old friends after moving back to New York City.  
> Rating/Warnings: PG-13/R. OC, OOC, Strong Language, Violence, Abuse, Drug/Alcohol Abuse, Adult situations/subjects, and etc.  
> Pairing(s): OMC/Maya Hart and many others.

The Camden Home Later That Evening

Ruthie had spoken with her parents and it hadn't taken too much convincing for them to allow Jari to stay there for a week, surprisingly Tahj had said it was okay, so that one thing that the latter _wouldn't_ have to worry about. "She thought Mary had chosen Wilson over her."

"Woah." Jari said as Ruthie recounted a recent argument between Mary and Lucy, he needed a distraction from his own issues, and hearing about a different subject was a _good_ distraction.

"But we got over it." Mary said. "What do you guys wanna do? We got a couple of hours before bedtime."

"We could play football." Simon spoke up.

Lucy automatically agreed. "Why not?"

"There's an even number of players if one of us sits out." Mary said. The group(except the twins who didn't want to play) then headed to the backyard where they played a pick-up game of football, Jari was one team with Matt and Simon, while Mary was on the other team with Lucy and Ruthie, they kept playing up until Annie had called them inside to get ready for bed.

***

The Camden Home The Boy's Room

"Bequiet Ruthie, you're going to wake up Mom and Dad and then we'll all be in trouble." Lucy warned as she walked into her brother's shared bedroom with Mary, and Ruthie. Simon and Jari were sharing a bed, with them sleeping at opposite ends(head/foot of the mattress), everyone was supposed to be asleep _but_ they had talked earlier and agreed that they were gonna stay up a bit later and talk since there was no school the next day.

"Sorry Luce." Ruthie quietly apologized. Mary sat on a chair near Matt's bed, Lucy sat on Simon and Jari's bed, while Ruthie sat on Sam's bed.

"Remind me why we brought her?" scoffed Mary and then Lucy responded with a shrug.

"I'm going to tell a scary story." Matt broke in. "If you think you're going to have nightmares, cover your ears." Sam and David exchanged looks and quickly put their hands over their ears as their older brother began a tale about _the little girl in the red cape_. It was a good thing the young boys covered their ears, the story did end with bloody death afterall.

"Simon, where did you hear that?" asked Jari.

"Some _little girl_ in a cape told me." Matt looked over at him.

Next Chapter: A fight between Jari, Riley, Lucas, and Farkle breaks out, causing a rift in their friendship.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Down To Earth  
> A/N: AU fic, strictly written for fun. The ages at the beginning of the story are Jari 11, Matt 23, Mary 21, Lucy 20, Simon 16, Ruthie 13, and Sam and David 8. For story purposes, Matt, Mary, and Lucy haven't met Sarah, Carlos, and Kevin yet.  
> Fandom(s): Girl Meets World, 7th Heaven, Big Time Rush  
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
> Summary: The Feeny's reunite with old friends after moving back to New York City.  
> Rating/Warnings: PG-13/R. OC, OOC, Strong Language, Violence, Abuse, Drug/Alcohol Abuse, Adult situations/subjects, and etc.  
> Pairing(s): OMC/Maya Hart and many others.

John Quincy Adams Community School One Week Later

Jari walked into one of the hallways at the school and to his locker where his fellow preteen friends, Riley Matthews, Lucas Friar, and Farkle Minkus were waiting for him and their faces didn't look happy, despite wishful thinking, he had a bad feeling that it was directed toward him. "What's the problem?"

Riley glared at him. "I don't know Jari, why don't you tell us?"

"I'm not a mindreader Riley, what is going on?" asked Jari, he honestly hadn't done anything to warrant anger from his friends, though apparently they thought he had. The first one to realize that Jari truly didn't know why they were upset was Farkle, once he reiterated that to Riley and Lucas, the two then explained that they knew what Maya and Jari had been up to as of late.

A pack of cigarettes had fallen out of Maya's backpack during one of Maya's 'famous' argument with Lucas, but when Riley had confronted Maya about it, the only answer she got from the blond rebel was that it had nothing to do with her.

Riley had originally wanted to tell her father, Cory Matthews(who also happened to be her teacher) about Maya smoking but Maya in so many words told her that doing that _might_ just cost her a best friend so she went to Lucas, even though the two of them had wanted to protect Farkle and found him too ' _innocent_ ', he overheard the conversation and told them that he was helping Maya as well. Up until they caught Jari and Maya smoking at the park, _none_ of them had known that the former was smoking as well.

"You don't know why I do it, and unless you do, you shouldn't judge me." defended Jari, his friends were out of line and had no right to judge him or Maya when they didn't know half of what went on _behind closed doors_.

The trio tried to explain that they had been only been trying to help him and Maya since they were all friends, but Jari wasn't so sure that he believed them, maybe it was them starting off with accusations or him being too caught up in his own problems. Despite the protests from Riley, Lucas, and Farkle, Jari slammed his locker and walked away from them, not wanting to hear anymore of their 'concern'. He brushed past Jake and ignored his younger brother upon being asked what was wrong, Jari _couldn't_ and _wouldn't_ talk about it right then.

Next Chapter: Jari tells Maya about the fight.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Down To Earth  
> A/N: AU fic, strictly written for fun. The ages at the beginning of the story are Jari 11, Matt 23, Mary 21, Lucy 20, Simon 16, Ruthie 13, and Sam and David 8. For story purposes, Matt, Mary, and Lucy haven't met Sarah, Carlos, and Kevin yet.  
> Fandom(s): Girl Meets World, 7th Heaven, Big Time Rush  
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
> Summary: The Feeny's reunite with old friends after moving back to New York City.  
> Rating/Warnings: PG-13/R. OC, OOC, Strong Language, Violence, Abuse, Drug/Alcohol Abuse, Adult situations/subjects, and etc.  
> Pairing(s): OMC/Maya Hart and many others.

The Lake

Jari was sitting near the lake, contemplating the fight he had gotten into with his friends the other day, Riley along with Lucas and Farkle had made a few attempts to try and talk him but decided to wait until he got over it since he kept _ignoring_ them. The small preteen began skipping rocks in the water until he heard footsteps approaching, he stayed still as he felt the warmth of a body next to him and saw his friend, the teenage James Diamond who put his arm around him.

"Jari, what's wrong?" he asked.

Jari sighed. "I got into a big fight with Riley, Lucas, and Farkle the other day."

"What about?" James wasn't even wearing his distant smile, he just looked concerned.

"Because they found out that I smoked and judged me for it." though Jari wouldn't admit that there was more to it than that, tension had been building up between him and his friends for a while and that morning was when it finally exploded, he couldn't even approach them to talk about the fight.

James nodded. "Did you four make up?"

"No, we're not speaking." Jari shook his head, sure he had fights with his friends before that made them stop speaking to each other, but not with all four of them at the same time, it _hurt_ him not to be able to talk to them, he was sure that they were feeling the same way.

"Dude, they're still your friends, you'll forgive them and they'll forgive you." James assured him, sure friendships weren't perfect, but that didn't mean that they _weren't_ still friends, while he wasn't sure when, sooner or later things between Jari, Riley, Lucas, and Farkle would be okay again.

Jari sighed and he grabbed a cigarette out of his pocket. "Got a match?" asked James.

"Only if you have an extra cig." Jari smiled and handed his friend an extra cigarette, James then took a match out of his pocket, and the two started _smoking_ them.

***

The Hart Home Later That Evening

"Hey Maya." Jari said as the two of them sat in front of Maya's house on the porch, both of them kept an eye on Aidan, Abby, and Riley's younger brother Auggie Matthews(who Maya had agreed to babysit for Topanga) as they talked, he hadn't wanted to bring them along but was _threatened_ into doing it by Tahj. 

Maya briefly took a glance at the night sky and then back to her friend. "I heard you aren't speaking to Riley, Farkle, or Lucas."

When Jari sighed and tried to explain, Maya cut him off and told him that she had gone out of her way to avoid the trio  _wasn't_ speaking to them either, so he had nothing to feel bad about.

"I never asked you, why do you do it?" There was no question that the _it_ Jari was referring to was why Maya smoked.

A shrug came from Maya's shoulders as she offered a proposition to Jari, if the small preteen would tell her why he smoked, then she would be willing to do the same. Even though Jari completely trusted Maya, he didn't feel up to sharing due to the fact that it affected his brothers and sisters as well.

The blond rebel waited for her friend to talk for a few minutes before smirking and realizing that he wasn't going to, Jari knew that Maya _respected_ that he wasn't going to tell her anything, just as he respected Maya not telling him anything. The two then changed the subject and talked for a few minutes before Auggie and the twins walked up to the two of them and told him they were bored, Maya then offered them some ice cream and a movie which they quickly agreed to. Maya got up and grabbed Jari's hand and quickly yanked her friend to his feet, the two of them quickly walked inside the house with the kids, deciding to put their home-life issues to the side.

Next Chapter: Jari overhears someone threatening Peter.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Down To Earth  
> A/N: AU fic, strictly written for fun. The ages at the beginning of the story are Jari 11, Matt 23, Mary 21, Lucy 20, Simon 16, Ruthie 13, and Sam and David 8. For story purposes, Matt, Mary, and Lucy haven't met Sarah, Carlos, and Kevin yet.  
> Fandom(s): Girl Meets World, 7th Heaven, Big Time Rush  
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
> Summary: The Feeny's reunite with old friends after moving back to New York City.  
> Rating/Warnings: PG-13/R. OC, OOC, Strong Language, Violence, Abuse, Drug/Alcohol Abuse, Adult situations/subjects, and etc.  
> Pairing(s): OMC/Maya Hart and many others.

The Petrowski Home One Month Later

"And finished." Peter muttered as he, Jari, and Ruthie flopped back in Peter's room, the three of them were working on a homework assignment, Paris was downstairs with Dick and both Ruthie and Jari could feel the tension between Dick and Peter after entering the house. "Let's do something else now." the spiky haired blond suggested to the two, due to Dick and Paris discussing marriage _despite_ them not dating for that long, he was more than a bit tense.

"Such as?" Jari asked, curious to know what his friend was thinking.

"We could go the food court." Ruthie suggested.

Jari smiled and then he and Peter both agreed to go to the mall, and then the tension was brought back as Dick walked in. Uneasy looks were exchanged from Jari and Ruthie to Peter as Dick smiled and asked the trio what they were up to, a hostile Peter told him that it was none of his business and then got up and urged his friends to leave with them, the trio then walked downstairs and out the front door when Dick pulled Peter back.

Seeing the weird look on Dick's face as he placed a hand on Peter's shoulder made Jari uneasy, being a victim of abuse himself, the small preteen knew it when he saw it.

He heard Dick's hushed tone to Peter as the man warned that if he tried to mess things up with him and Peter's mom, first he would get rid of the golden retriever dog Peter owned, and lastly he would get rid of _Peter himself_. Jari's mouth went wide as Dick shot a casual smile to Peter before walking back into the house, his friend then walked over to where he and Ruthie were standing. The trio then started their trek to the mall, Jari's mind was still on Dick's threat to Peter, _something_ had to be done and soon.

Next Chapter: Epilogue.

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Down To Earth  
> A/N: AU fic, strictly written for fun. The ages at the beginning of the story are Jari 11, Matt 23, Mary 21, Lucy 20, Simon 16, Ruthie 13, and Sam and David 8. For story purposes, Matt, Mary, and Lucy haven't met Sarah, Carlos, and Kevin yet.  
> Fandom(s): Girl Meets World, 7th Heaven, Big Time Rush  
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
> Summary: The Feeny's reunite with old friends after moving back to New York City.  
> Rating/Warnings: PG-13/R. OC, OOC, Strong Language, Violence, Abuse, Drug/Alcohol Abuse, Adult situations/subjects, and etc.  
> Pairing(s): OMC/Maya Hart and many others.

The Forest

"Maya, thanks for coming with me." asked Jari as he and his friend sat underneath one of several trees in the forest. A couple of hours ago, Maya had caught Jari with a backpack full of clothes, and her friend had no choice but to confess that he was planning on running away. Though the small preteen had refused to tell why, to his utter shock, Maya had packed some of her stuff and the two agreed on running away together.

"You know I'm always here for you." Maya assured him. "Besides it doesn't matter to my mother whether I'm there or not."

Jari decided to change the subject. "If I tell you something, will you agree not to tell anyone else?"

"I won't tell anybody, you can trust me, what is it?" she realized that her friend looked completely serious, of course she had picked up that her friend was hiding a _dark_ secret, but figured that he would tell her when he was ready.

"Well first I need to ask you something." Jari said. "Does Katy ever hit you?"

Maya shook her head. "Once when I was little, but my mom doesn't believe in using physical discipline, why?"

Jari took a deep breath before speaking. "My dad hits me for no reason and sometimes I have to cover up the bruises and the marks that he leaves behind."

Maya's mouth went wide upon hearing this, she couldn't believe for a second that this was really happening to her friend, Jari was just such a sweet person, and the idea that _anyone_ would abuse him, it shocked her to the core.

***

Epilogue.

Jari returned home after running away to the forest with Maya, and his father Tahj beat him so badly that he was knocked unconscious with blood pouring from his mouth and nose. His older brother, Noah luckily was home at the time and the teen came downstairs and saw what had happened to his brother, by that time Tahj had ran out of the house, and Noah felt very guilty that he had been upstairs when his father was beating on his little brother and therefore wasn't able to stop what had happened.

Jari's younger sister, Juliette showed up and she and Noah agreed that they were going to take Jari to the hospital despite the questions that were going to come up about his injuries, since he wouldn't wake up when they kept calling his name repeatedly, Noah picked Jari up bridal-style and carried his brother out to their sister, Elizabeth's car and then the siblings drove to the hospital.

On the way to the hospital, Noah called the other sixteen siblings to let them know what happened with Jari, the doctors told Noah and Juliette that since Jari's injuries showed signs of abuse, there would be a cop questioning the boy when he woke up. It was an hour or two after treatment from the doctors that Jari had woken up in the hospital bed and to Noah and Juliette standing over his bedside. He asked his older brother and younger sister what happened and they told him and also revealed that no one knew where Tahj was.

Jari then told the two of them that whether they liked it or not, he was telling what _really_ happened, and to his surprise Noah told him that both he and Juli had talked about it on the drive there and that he should tell so that their father wouldn't get away with this. He wanted to call his friends and let them know what was going on, but since it was Christmas, he decided that it was best to save that call for tomorrow.

Sometime after Jari had spoken to a police officer about the abuse and was released from the hospital, he had made up with Riley, Lucas, and Farkle and now things between the friends were pretty much back to normal except that Jari and Maya had recently started dating, Tahj was eventually discovered at a local bar and the police arrested the man for child abuse and _numerous_ other charges.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all that I have to write for this story, thanks for reading. There may or may not be a sequel out eventually.


End file.
